48 Hours
by Spooky4ever
Summary: Mulder is injected with a deadly and unknown virus leaving him only 48 hours to live. Now its up to Scully as she races aganst time to capture his possible killer and find a vacine. MxS! ON HOLD
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- I do not own any X-Files characters.**

**Summary-Mulder is injected with a deadly and unknown virus leaving him only 48 hours to live. Now it's up to Scully as she races against time to capture his possible killer and find the vaccine. But Scully soon finds out time is not on her side. MxS!**

**48 Hours **

**Chapter 1- Why to Hate Stakeouts.**

**April 25th 10:28 P.M. Abandoned apartment building**

Crunch! Scully sat in the passenger seat listening to her partner Fox Mulder eat sunflower seeds while watching the rain hit the window of the car. She looked at her watch and sighed seeing that the time was 10:30. _Only two and a half more hours before being Agents Carson and Berkley come _she thought. They had been out here, in the rain, since 6:30 P.M. waiting for there suspect to show. It appeared he wasn't.

Their suspect was Martin Brown, a twenty year-old male who was on a long, sick, and disturbing killing streak. Mulder and Scully were only part of this case because Violent Crimes needed a few extra and willing agents. Before Agent Black only wanted Scully, but she refused to do it without Mulder, only because she knew Agent Black didn't want him due to his 'spooky' reputation. After much persuading Mulder was on the case too and they were ordered on a stakeout, with the hopes that they would be able to catch the killer after a witness reported seeing him come to this abandoned building numerous times.

Mulder sighed. "We have been sitting here for 4 hours Mulder. Do you really think that he is going to show?" He spit a sunflower shell out the window.

"I think this is a waste of time." He replied. "But patience is a virtue. And we still have time to try to capture him before Carson and Berkley come." He turned his attention back to the building just in time to see a shadowy figure enter it. "Scully call for backup and than take the back of the building. I think are suspect has decided to make an appearance." With that he quickly got out of the car with his gun in his hands and followed Brown. Scully wanted to follow him but they didn't know how dangerous Brown is and knew it would be wise to call. She quickly brought out her cell phone and dialed Carson's number.

Mulder quietly climbed up the stairs. The man obviously wasn't downstairs since Mulder heard him noisily go up the stairs, oblivious to the fact that someone else was in the old apartments. Reaching the top he saw him walking down the hallway joyously humming to himself. "FBI freeze!" Mulder shouted. Brown whirled around surprised. Thought it was dark Mulder imagined the look on his face.

"Don't move." Mulder told him as he walked forward. The frightened man didn't seem to here him as he moved backwards, not really paying attention to Mulder. Confused Mulder slowly looked behind him, not taking the gun off the suspect. A tall figured loomed behind him. "What the…" The figure drew out his own gun and hit Mulder on the head with the butt of it.

"Good night Mr. Mulder." He said evilly. Brown used this opportunity to make his escape. He bolted down the stairs and slammed down the back door only to find another gun in his face.

"Freeze FBI!" Scully shouted. "Where is Mulder?" She asked as Agent Berkley moved in to cuff him.

"Who the hell is Mulder?"

"My partner, where is he?" She demanded.

"Upstairs. Some guy knocked him out. Don't ask me who the hell he is cause I don't know!" Hearing Mulder was hurt was all Scully needed to rush upstairs.

"Mulder?" Scully cautiously crept forward incase his attacker was still up there somewhere. She heard a groan. "Mulder!" She ran over to him and knelt down. "Mulder are you alright?" She asked checking his head. He sat up.

"Yea, I think so. Someone snuck up on me. Where is Brown?"

"Don't worry about him I caught him." Scully said examining a gash in his head. "Do you know who attacked you?"

"No it was to dark to see anything. I am guessing he was Browns accomplice."

"It is possible. She said, Come on, we need to bandage that wound." He groaned as Scully helped him stand up and go down the stairs.

They met AD Skinner outside. "Good work agents." He said. "Are you going to be alright Agent Mulder?"

"Yes sir. It's just a bump on the head. I'll be at work tomorrow."

"Good. I expect a report by Wednesday. You also have a meeting tomorrow morning about your next case." He strode off into the night. Scully looked at Mulder scowling.

"Just a bump? Mulder that gash on your head is far from 'just being a bump'!" Scully said angry at him but it immediately disappeared into concern when she saw him holding his head in pain. "Mulder, are you ok?" She asked concerned.

"Yea, I just have a headache." Scully chuckled.

"I would think so. Come on. Lets fix it up." Mulder allowed her to lead him over to the ambulance.

The same figure who had knocked Mulder out hid in the darkness of a near by ally watching the scene before him. Smirking he looked down at the empty needle. While Mulder was unconscious he had injected a fatal virus into his wrist. Considering where he injected it the virus should have quickly spread into his bloodstream. By tomorrow morning Mulder would have more than just a headache. He chuckled. "Have sweet dreams Mr. Mulder. Cause they will be your last." He laughed as he disappeared into the shadows.

**A.N- Whew! My hands ache after that chapter! I thought I would never finish it! Next chapter coming soon! Please review! Spooky4ever**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer- I do not the X-Files. **

**Chapter 2-Unknown Illness**

**April 26th 7:28 Mulder's apartment. Day 1**

Mulder woke up with a start. He groaned as he rolled over to look at his clock. It was 7:30. _Shit I'm late! _He thought. Quickly he sat up only to lie back down as a wave of dizziness forced him back down. His headache from last night seemed to have worsened overnight. Every muscle was stiff and sore.

"Great, just what I need. Some damn cold." He mumbled. He stood up slowly this time. Very slowly he shuffled his way to the bathroom. He flicked on the light switch. The bright lights hurt his eyes. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! I feel like crap _he thought. Mulder stared back at his reflection in the mirror.

_Not only do I feel like crap I look like it too _he thought grimly. His face was pale making the dark circles seem even darker. His eyes were bloodshot. He leaned against the sink panting. Breathing seemed to get harder every minute. He was sweating pretty hard too. "Great a fever." I have been awake for three minutes and it's already proven to be a bad day!" He said in aggravation.

He splashed some cold water on his face, gave his face a quick shave, brushed his teeth, and combed his hair a little. Taking a swig of orange juice he also discovered how sore and raw his throat was. _Some cold this is. _He smoothed out the bumps in his suite, _no time to change he thought,_ grabbed his brief case **(AN-does he have one of those things? I only see Scully with one half the time.) **, and rushed out the door not bothering to lock the it as he fought off a wave of nausea.

In his rush to the elevator he bumped into a man spilling all of his papers out of his brief case. "Sorry." Mulder said hurriedly as he scooped them up and rushed down the hall. "Can this day get any worse?" He mumbled. Unfortunately it was only the beginning.

Mulder burst into the X-Files office so loudly that a startled Scully almost fell out of her chair. "Mulder are you ok" Scully asked concerned as soon as she saw how pale Mulder was.

"Define ok Scully." Mulder mumbled. Twice on his way to the basement he had to make a detour to the bathroom to throw up.

"What did you say? I didn't quite catch what you said." Scully said.

"Let's go. Skinners meeting starts in five minutes." Mulder said as he guided Scully out the door.

**Skinner's office 8:15**

"Agents Mulder and Scully Mr. Skinner will see you now." Said Kathy, Skinners secretary. **(AN-Ok I don't know her real name sorry if it's wrong.) **Mulder knocked once and then ushered Scully inside.

"Agents." Skinner acknowledged them without looking up from a file which Scully assumed that it was their next case.

"I presume that is are next case sir." Scully said.

"Yes Agent Scully I found this case what Mulder would find X-Files material…" Skinner continued to brief them on the X-file but Mulder had tuned them out. The headache had (if possible) was becoming unbearable. The Advil he had taken at 5 in the morning must have worn off. Was it him or was it getting warmer in here? A loud buzzing sound filled his ears. The room was spinning. Before he knew he was on the floor, Scully by his side.

"Mulder? Mulder what's wrong? My God he is burning up! Sir call 911. Mulder can you hear me?" Scully checked his pulse. It was rapid, and his breathing was shallow. She loosened his tie. "Mulder can you hear me?" Scully asked again.

"Scully…" Mulder said.

"It's ok Mulder. Look the medics are here right now." She reassured him. Two of them came rushing in carrying a stretcher. Everything became a blur to Scully and she soon found herself jumping into the ambulance with Mulder.

"I'll meet you at the hospital." Skinner told her. Scully only nodded as she made a mental check list of any virus or disease that Mulder was showing symptoms of, and her list was becoming pretty long. Absentmindedly she reached out and grabbed Mulder's hand and rubbed it with her thumb.

**DC's General Hospital 8:50**

Scully sat in the chair outside Mulder's tapping her foot impatiently. What could be taking so long? She needed to know what was wrong with Mulder. After what seemed to take forever but was only five minutes the door opened. Scully stood up immediately. "Ishegoingtobeok?" Scully asked in a rush. The doctor had a solemn look on his face. What ever the news was Scully instantly knew it was not going to be good.

"I'm Doc. Graves. You must be Scully right? Mr. Mulder kept asking for you." He gave her a small smile.

"Yes I am. Please Doc. Graves I am a doctor also and Mulder's FBI partner. Please give me the honest truth. Is Mulder going to live?"

"I am not sure. This is no ordinarily virus. I don't even know what it is and I can't give you a full answer until the tests come in. The only thing I can tell you is that I have never seen anything like it before. This virus appears to be breaking down his whole body. His immune system, nervous system, his lungs, his kidneys, everything. It doesn't look good. I'm not sure if he is going to live."

"Can I see him?" Scully asked holding back tears threatening to fall. But refused to cry. Mulder needed her right now. Besides, the doctor didn't make a 100 conclusion if he was going to die or not.

"Of course. You can't stay too long though. He does need his rest if we want him to make any improvement." Scully nodded in agreement and walked into Mulder's room. The curtains were drawn making the room dim. The familiar smell of a sterilized room filled her nose. Scully quietly walked over to Mulder's bed incase he was asleep. She pulled a chair up to his bed and sat down. She took his hand again and rubbed the IV in his wrist. A small hole near it caught her attention.

She leaned closer to inspect it. It looked like someone had stuck a needle there… Scully shook her head. There was nothing suspicious about it. One of the nurses probably had to reinsert the IV. Scully studied his face. His boyish face was scrunched up in pain and was pale. The dark circles under his eyes were darker than before.

Scully lovingly moved of piece of his dark brown hair off his forehead and wiped away the perspiration. She gently squeezed his hand. Scully felt a weak squeeze in return.

"Mulder! I thought you were asleep." Scully exclaimed.

"I was more along the lines of dozing." Mulder explained. "So what did the good doctor say? I am going to get out of here anytime soon" He asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not Mulder. They don't even know what is wrong with you!" Scully said fighting returning tears.

"It's ok Scully." Mulder tried to comfort her.

"No Mulder it's not ok. You're the one in bed and I'm crying. What if…" Scully trailed off.

"Hey I have been in worse situations. We both have. Don't worry. Before you know it I will be up and running and dragging you all over America searching for UFO's k?" Mulder said. Scully smiled and leaned down to kiss his head. He brushed away a single tear that had managed to escape. Then the door opened and a short, blonde, no- nonsense nurse came marching in.

"I'm sorry but Mr. Mulder needs his rest now. You have to leave." She said sharply. Scully didn't want to leave but could see that Mulder was fading fast.

"I'll come by later ok Mulder. My mom will probably be with me ok?" Mulder just nodded his head and fell into a deep sleep. Scully gave him another kiss on the head and followed the nurse out of the room. Skinner was sitting out there.

"I heard the news." He said.

"Can I talk to you in a moment sir? I need to make a phone call."

"Sure." Skinner said and sat back down. Scully went to pull out her cell only to discover that she had left on Mulder's desk. _Great. Now I need to go find a pay phone. _

"I will be back sir." Skinner made a humph in response. Scully sighed and started her search. But no sooner she had turned around the corner then a black gloved hand found its way over her mouth and a gruff voice said "Don't make a sound."

**AN-Okay I finally found some time to update before my vacation. Thank you DanaAnderson for reviewing! Where _did_ that ambulance come from? Spooky4ever.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer-How many times am I going to have to tell you? I still don't own them. But I am working on it lol.**

**Chapter 3-The Countdown has Started**

**A black gloved hand found its way over her mouth and a gruff voice said "Don't make a sound."**

The unpleasant feeling of fear flowed through Scully's veins. She instantly began to try fight off her enemy. She desperately tried to cry out. Her eyes swept up and down the hall. No one. Just great.

"I'm here to help you!" The mysterious man said in her ear. "I know what is wrong with your partner!" Scully froze. Little bells were ringing in her head. _Don't trust him Dana! It could be a trap. Remember what Mulder said Trust no one._

But Scully ignored the voice in her head. If this man knew what was wrong with Mulder then she knew it was crucial to at least hear him out. "Are you going to listen to me now? You're not going to run off or anything?" Scully nodded her head. "Good" The man released her. In a second Scully was on him demanding for some answers.

"Who are you? How do you know about Mulder? What is wrong with him? Is it curable? How did he get it?" Scully stared into his cold gray eyes. He had a good 6 inches on her and was well built like Mulder only a little heftier. He had a long face showing lines of age and tiredness. His brown hair was plaster against his head, gray streaks standing out. His attire consisted of black. He wore loose black jeans with a black suite shirt which was partially coved by a black overcoat similar to Mulder's only longer.

"Answer me damn it! What the hell is wrong with him?" Scully demanded. She was quickly growing annoyed him and about ready to take out her gun and blow his ugly head off.

"First off my name is Robert Barns; I used to work for the Department of Defense. Now you could say I just keep a down low and keep up with a certain conspiracies antics. Any other questions I have to answer somewhere else at some other time. For now I can tell you are that Mulder has made an enemy he didn't really know about and this enemy of his is willing to get revenge on him in an unjust way, especially since the events that happened where out of his control."

"This person not only carries the virus but the cure. You need to get to Mulder's possible killer if you want the vaccine. Meet me later at 3:00 PM at Casey's Bar. I believe your partner goes there every so often. You have no other means of contacting me so I suggest you show up." He quickly spun around and hurried down the opposite end of the hall.

"Hey wait a minute!" Scully cried. She chased after him her heels clicking down the hall. But when she turned around the corner he was gone. **(AN-How do they do that?) **"Damn." Scully swore. Confused, she continued her search for a pay phone her mind full of questions. Who just was that guy? Who is this unknown enemy of Mulder's? How would she find him? And most importantly just how much time did Mulder have left?

**DC's General Hospital 2:23**

Scully didn't bother to look up when the door to Mulder's room opened. She continued to sit there absentmindedly rubbing his hand. She studied his face. He was sleeping again, relaxed she hoped. He had been in a lot of pain before and probably still was due to his fitful sleep. Her mind was buzzing with questions from this mornings encounter. She sighed.

"Dana sweetheart I came here as quickly as I could. How is Fox?" Maggie asked. Scully got up and hugged her mother.

"Not to well mom. He has a high fever, difficulty breathing, he says he hurts all over. I have never seen someone deteriorate so fast. The tests showed us that there is some substance in his system. It's breaking down everything in his body. The doctors don't know what to do and neither do I." Scully blinked back tears.

"Oh Dana, Fox will be okay. The doctors will find something to get him better. Just have faith. You two have been in worse things before." Maggie tried to cheer her daughter up. Scully smiled.

"Mulder said the same thing, that we have been in worse situations, and I agree with him on that. But he has been sick only a few hours and every thing already looks hopeless." Scully sighed again. Maggie glanced over at Mulder. She tired to hide her surprise at how pale and thin he looked. Scully was right, things did not look good.

"Dana why don't you go home for a quick nap and something to eat? It looks like you are going to be here a while." Maggie suggested. Scully glanced at the clock. It was almost 2:40. She would have to leave soon for her meeting with Barns. Scully looked back at Mulder who was still sleeping. She really didn't want to leave but knew it could be for the better.

"Alright mom. I'll be back in an hour or two k?" Scully said unhappily. Maggie was taken aback at how easy Dana was being.

"Alright dear and don't you worry too much. I will stay with Fox until you get back." She said suspicious.

"Thanks mom." Scully gave her another hug and silently walked back to Mulder's bedside. "Hang in there G-man." She whispered and gave him a kiss on the cheek. As Scully left the room she thought she saw a smile on Mulder's face.

**Casey's Bar 3:02 **

Scully quickly located Robert Barns sitting in a dark corner of the bar. Scully walked over to him ignoring some sly remarks from a drunk man she passed. Wordlessly she sat down and stared at his hard face, waiting for him to explain. "Would you like a drink?" asked Barns. Scully glared at him. Barns understood that she meant business and quickly got to the point. "As you already know your partner has been given a deadly, fatal virus. This virus gives him only 48 hours to live."

Scully did a sharp intake. Barns casually ignored it and continued. This virus was originally created by our government to use in war. Bombs mainly. But due to the fact that they couldn't use it without a cure incase it broke out in the United States they quickly disposed of it supposedly. But the Syndicate got their hands on it and someone else for that matter. How you can find this person I don't know or if you can find the vaccine in time for that matter."

He pulled out of vile containing a yellow-green liquid. It had tiny white figures in it. "This here is the virus. Use it to create a cure incase you cannot find the attacker in time. Now we must depart and the rest is up to you. If you ever need to contact me again just tape an X on a tree somewhere in the park."

"But…" Scully started.

"Agent Scully, Agent Mulder does not have much time. The count down to his death starts right here right now. You need that vaccine and this person by Thursday 3:00 PM. That leaves you very little time. I suggest you start working on that cure soon. Remember Agent Scully 48 hours."

Before Scully could asked another question Barns got up, and exited the building. Scully let out a frustrated sigh and slumped in her seat. This was just great. The idiot didn't even tell her where she should begin to look for this mysterious person. She picked up the vile and studied it. She knew where she should take it first.Pocketing it in her coat pocketshe stood up and rushed out of the bar. She daringly looked at her watch-it was 3:20. _Only 48 hours _she thought wistfully.

**Unknown location-3:00**

The mysterious figure who had watched Mulder the night before happily looked at his own wristwatch. _So the countdown begins _his lips curled into an evil smile. _Soon Fox Mulder will be out of the way and my family will be at peace _he thought. He had an hour before he reported Mulder's progress to the strange smoking man. Maybe it was time to give Mulder a visit…

**AN-yes I have finally updated! Sorry it has taken so long. I have been very busy. Sorry if it's too short also. I am kind of on a writers block. Hopefully I will update again soon. As always please review!**

**Spooky4ever.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer-I do not own the X-Files.**

**Chapter 4-Bad News **

**D.C General 11:08 40 hours left**

Scully woke up with a start. She had fallen asleep again. Stiffly, she sat back up, ignoring the cracks in her back. _You would think that the hospital would provide more comfortable chairs, _she thought. _The hospital! _Scully abruptly stood up and whipped her head at the monitor telling everybody Mulder was still alive. With a breath of relief she slowly sank back into her chair.

Today had been so stressful. She had returned to the hospital to find Mulder hadn't gotten any better or worse at least. After her 'helpful' conversation with Mr. Barns she took the vile to the Lone Gunman for analysis and asked for them to work on it. She knew should have taken it to the FBI labs or the hospital or even the CDC. But she knew if anyone found out she had it, the more likely that someone would make sure it disappeared.

Mulder's friends told her it would take a few hours and promised to call her. That had been about 8 hours ago and she hadn't heard a thing. Scully knew they were working as fast as they could but she wished they would work a little harder. Time was running out and it was excruciating to wait. Scully stared at Mulder's pale sleeping face. He had only woken up twice since she'd returned. Neither of those times did she tell him about Barns or his enemy, not yet anyway. She told the doctors about the 48 hour dead line but not Mulder.

Scully felt guilty. Mulder had a right to know everything she'd found out. She just didn't want to worry him. It was bad enough he had some secret assailant lurking out there somewhere but to tell him he only had less then two days to live…it was too difficult for that yet. Scully didn't know what she was waiting for. Was if for someone to walk in with some miracle cure? Or for Mulder to hop out of bed and say it was all a joke?

Scully was wasting time. But what did she have to go on? So far there was no suspect to hunt down. No real evidence to go on. Nothing except a puncture wound in Mulder's wrist, a small bottle with a green substance, and a dying partner. This time she was fighting tears of frustration instead of tears of sorrow.

A nurse came in to check Mulder's vitals. She gave Scully a brief smile as she came in. Scully moved away from the bed to give her more room. If she only had some hard evidence to go on… Maybe the Gunmen found something. She rushed out the room and dialed the Gunmen's number. "Langly it's me Scully; you can turn off the recorder." Scully said.

"What recorder?" Langly asked playing dumb.

"Langly…" She growled warningly.

"Alright alright." Langly mumbled.

"Have you guys found anything out about that substance I gave you?" Scully asked anxiously.

"It's very complicated if that's what you're asking." Byers jumped in. _They must have the speakerphone on _Scully guessed.

"Anything else?"

"That making a cure is gonna take more time than 2 days. We could make a prototype but we can't guarantee that it will work without testing." Frohike said. _Crap… _"It would help if we had someone with medical expertise you know." He hinted.

"I know but it is also important to capture a lunatic running around with dangerous viruses too." Scully reminded them.

"Which is exactly why we could in an expert of our on." Chimed in Langly. "Frohike just wants you to be here."

"Who is this expert of yours?" Scully asked suspiciously. "He is an old buddy of Byers. Don't want to know how they met up. But don't worry, this guy knows what he is doing." Langly explained. "He better be." Scully muttered.

"How is Mulder anyway?" asked Byers.

"Not good. He continues to deteriorate but so far nothing too major has come up." Scully told them.

"We'll keep on working but this is one of the most complex viruses I have ever seen. I can't believe how easily the government let this be taken." Byers commented.

"Maybe they don't know that someone has it." Scully suggested.

"That's unlikely. They probably have a member of Them infiltrating the government too. They had a few in the FBI remember?" Frohike pointed out.

"Yea…" Scully sighed. "Do you have anything else to tell me?"

"Not yet. We will keep you posted ok?" Langly assured her.

"Alright guys thanks." Scully hung up and sighed. _More bad news _she thought glumly. Scully headed back to Mulder's room when she saw a tall man step out of Mulder's room. Her guard went up. "Is that you Barns?" Scully called. The figure froze and dashed off without warning. **(AN-As my editor pointed out they would have a guard in front of his room but for this lets just pretend the idiot went on a coffee break or something k?) **

Scully raced after him her gun drawn. _If that isn't Barns then who is this guy? _"Federal agent! Freeze!" She yelled. The man didn't stop and never looked back as he sprinted away. Nurses glared at them in annoyance as they pushed past. Others just stared in bewilderment. "Stop!" Scully shouted to him again. He turned around the corner and hit the fire alarm. Doctors and nurses ran around in a panicked frenzy creating the perfect escape for him.

Scully cried out in frustration, she had lost the suspect in the crowd. Ignoring the many people pushing past she screamed out "Damn it!"

**Hospital parking garage**

The man leaned against his car catching his breath. That was close, too close. If Dana had caught him…_No she won't catch me. No one will, _the man assured himself. He just had to be more careful. He had to keep more of a low profile.

Other than that he was pleased with Mulder's deteriorating condition. The virus was working perfectly. And slipping into the room unnoticed was easy. Of course now Dana would make sure no one would get into that room without permission. But that would make things more challenging, more fun. Perfect.

**Mulder's room 11:17**

"Who was that guy Scully?" Mulder questioned. He had woken up after hearing someone leave his room and the chase that followed it. She sighed and watched the doctor recheck his vitals.

"It looks like there's nothing new or wrong Agent Scully. Are you sure it wasn't a family member or friend who was just visiting against the rules? Someone who wanted a minute the Mr. Mulder?" the good doctor was impatient. He had a whole hospital to run and everything just became even more hectic thanks to some idiot pulling the fire alarm.

"No that man is not family and defiantly not a friend of Mulder's." Scully said defensively. Doc. Densir rubbed his temples hoping it would lessen his headache.

"I can assure you that nothing has changed. I understand your concern but right now I think you are being paranoid." _I think I have a right to be! _

"Actually doctor that's my job." Mulder joked. Doc. Densir just rubbed his eyes and said,

"Look if there is anything wrong the tests will prove that but right now I think Agent Mulder will be fine for the meantime. Just call for a nurse if something else seems wrong." He left the room.

"Nice bedside manner he has. I won't send him any thank you cards." Mulder commented. Scully smiled at his attempted humor.

"So Scully fill me in the details. I think you have some explaining to do." Mulder said wearily.

"I just saw a man I didn't recognize walk out of your room and when he didn't identify himself as Barns or anyone else that might be visiting at eleven o'clock at night, I just assumed he might be a suspect and chased after him." At that Scully bit her tongue. _Crap Mulder doesn't know about Barns or the fact his has been poisoned by his enemy. This will be fun to explain. Maybe he didn't notice…_But Scully knew that it was foolish thinking when Mulder got a confused look on his face and asked

"Who the hell is Barns Scully? Suspect? What aren't you telling me?" He demanded. Scully couldn't look into his eyes. She couldn't stand to see the confusion and hurt that would be lurking in them. He struggled to sit up. "Scully…" She sighed. She knew she couldn't-shouldn't-hide this from him.

She helped him up and sat down on the chair she had vacated earlier. "I do have some explaining to do Mulder. After I left your room when you first arrived at the hospital I ran into a man, Robert Barns, he used to work for the department of defense." She began to explain everything that had happened from the time he arrived to this point. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything before Mulder it's just…I guess I didn't want to worry you or anything. I really don't know why I didn't tell you anything in the first place." She looked at the floor miserably.

"Why didn't you tell me all of this before? It's my life I should have had some knowledge of what's going on." Mulder said angrily. "I'm sorry Mulder I just…" Scully trailed off fighting another fresh dam of tears. Mulder felt guilty and quickly changed the subject.

"So I have 48 hours huh?" Mulder said playing with the sheet covering him.

"40 actually. The other 8 hours have already past." Scully said gloomy letting the tears she had been trying so hard to keep in out.

"That's enough time." Mulder said as he climbed out of bed with a new strength.

"Mulder what do you think you are doing?" Scully demanded pushing him back down.

"You said he had the vaccine right? Well I am going to find it. There is no way I am going to sit on my ass while he's out there running around with it." Scully was glad to see the fire of determination burning in his hazel-green eyes again. But she was just as determined to make sure he stayed in bed. He was too sick to be running around.

"No Mulder. You can barely stand. You don't have the strength to go chasing after this guy."

"Why can't you let me do this Scully? Can't you grant me the freedom of hunting down this bastard? I want to see him pay at least. Why confine me to this bed? What good is it going to do? I'm dying anyway. Don't you know how this feels?" Mulder was out of bed again and pacing. He stopped his rant to see the tears simmering in Scully's eyes.

"I do how you feel Mulder. I truly do. When I was fighting my cancer I felt the same way. I was angry at the men who gave me the disease; I didn't want to go down without a good fight. I wanted to make sure they paid. I was angry at the world and didn't want to just lie around for death. But in the end I depended on you. I knew if I died you would hunt Them down. No matter what anyone else said or thought I believed you would find the cure for me." She walked over to him and cupped his face with her hands. "I trusted you Mulder, why can't you trust me to do the same?"

"I do trust you Scully." Mulder whispered.

"Then leave finding the vaccine to me. I'm not alone. The Gunmen are helping me too, along with Barns. Kind-of anyway." She forced a smile.

"Alright Scully you win." Mulder said tiredly. His long arms embraced her in a hug, silent tears of his own dripping onto her shirt. Scully helped him into his bed. "Just remember Scully time is everything."

"I will Mulder. Now go to sleep." Mulder obeyed her without argument. She watched his eyelids droop closed. She stood up and brought out her cell phone again. She had work to do. She closed the door. _Time is against me. I better use what time I have left well_. She shook her head and hurried off.

**Abandoned building 8:56-32 hours left**

"Agent Scully we found something." Said a member of the forensics section.

"What is it?" Scully asked. As soon as she had left the hospital she ran a security tape from the hospital over to the FBI. Later at 7:00 AM she got a forensics team together and headed out to the site. Not much had been found except some dusty footprints.

"This." He showed her a small evidence bag containing a needle.

"Where did you find this?" Scully asked.

"Over in that alley." He said, pointing in the alley's direction.

"Okay this is a good start send it over to the labs for finger prints and get an analysis on whatever substance you find." Scully told him. The men gave her a nod and hurried off somewhere. Scully searched the passage. From here Mulder's attacker could have hid perfectly in the shadows. No one would have seen him. At that moment Scully's cell phone went off. She hurriedly brought it out. She wondered who it was.

"Dana it's me." Maggie sounded upset.

"Mom what's wrong?" Scully asked in alarm.

"I'm at the hospital." Maggie quickly explained. "I wanted to drop by and see how Fox was doing."

"Mom what's wrong?" Scully demanded.

"Oh honey something is wrong with Fox!" Maggie sobbed.

**AN-Yea I know it like took me FOREVER to update but now my schedule is a little busier. At least now I have a good excuse on why it took me so long. Errors, grammar mistakes, sorry 'bout that. Silverdamocles was nice enough to be my editor so hopefully we won't have to worry about those problems. Speaking of her I give her an extra HUGE thank you. I never was good at English anyway…. Reviews, criticisms, compliments, all are worshiped and wanted. **


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